Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1887-01-29
NO. 20.
SHALL A MAN BE HUNG7

more, preached to his congregation
at McLaughlin's Hall last week on
"The Mistake of the Death Penalty
taking his text from Romans, xiii,
l." Let every soul be subject unto
the higher powers. For there is
40 power but of God:ss the powers
that be are ordained of God" He
said !; ''The judicial killing of T. J.
Cluvcrius was a mistake of the death
penalty. What we affirm of this we
affirm of all such killing. 1t is all
mistake. This particular case has
thai about it which to an extraor-
binary degree abscrbs public atten-
ton. The crime of which this man
was convicted, and for which he
was executed, was. horrible in the
extreme. The trial was long and
tedious, the prosecution was thor
ough, the defence able. All was
done that the most skilful lawyers
could do to secure an acquittal of
the culprit. Everything failed. He
was found guilty. Since the judg-
ment of the court was rendered,
every effort has been made to secure
executive clemency. The public has
been greatly agitated. and now that
the unhappy man has paid the pen.
atty of his crime according to the
criminal code, the case has come
before the people in such a way as
TO cause a great deal of earnest
thinking, the practical result of
which must be the large reinforce
ment of the conviction that the
death penalty is a sad and terrible
mistake. For such a crime, posi-.
lively proven, if ever a man ought
to hang, such a criminal ought to
hang. But the question is whether,
in any case in our land, and in our
high state of Christian civilization,
the death penalty ought to be exc
cuted. The taking of life by the
sheriff is a killing as truly as that
for which the murderer was execut-
ed, and for which there is no war
rant either in the teachings of the
Gospel or of sound political philoso.
ply. We have no weak and drivel-
ing sentiment to plead in behalf OF
the felon. We love justice as we
love mercy, and believe in the wis
dom of full punishment of crime.
The best Interpretation OF Christ
ianity teaches wholesome doctrine
that there is
NO ESCAPE FOR THE wReNG-DoER,
that whatsoever q man sows, that
shall he also reap, and that there is
no substitute to bear the penalty OF
the sinner, either in the criminal
court of human law, or in the court
of Heaven. 1t is not, then, pitifnl
and weak sympathy that moves us
to denounce the death penalty as a
mistake, but faith in the true teach.
ings of Christianity, which de-
nounces the old law of blood for
blood, and a strong conviction OF
the unwisdom, if not the positive
danger to public interests in the exc
cution of the death penalty.
Because of the present enlighten-
ment, and the educated conscience
of those of our fellow citizens who
are liable to iury:duty, it is exceed
ingly difficult to secure the convic-
ton of criminals guilty of capital
offence. The testimony in many
cases is not allowed its full weight,
because of the horror and barbarity
of the possible penalty. A hundred
years ago or more it was thought
that the public spectacle of an exc
cution was wholesome in mora
effect. Even seats we're prepared
for children that they might learn
the awful lesson. But experience
has exploded the idea; and now the
more private the execution the bet
ter. The weight OF statistical evi
dence is all against any good mora
effect Of the death penalty as
detriment of the criminal passions
Society cannot plead that the deatf
penalty is necessary as self-de
fence. Wise jurists admit the forct
of the plea of killing in selfdefence
But the prisoner charged with The
crime of murder must show that il
was in selfdefence and he had NJ
alternative if be would clear himself
But society cannot plead that hang
ing homicides is an act of self-de
fence, for In communities where thu
death penalty is in force no othel
recourse has been tried. In man,
"a l..
abolition of the death penalty ant
in place thereof substituting solitar.
confinement for life, has worked
well, and crime or capital offences
have decreased. The plea, then, o
self-defence on the part of society il
not valid. In addition to these con
siderations, the danger of executing